1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of dental care. More particularly, the present invention relates to toothbrushes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art toothbrushes are comprised of a head portion with bristles, a neck portion and a handle portion. It is common to have the head portion aligned with the handle portion to form a standard straight toothbrush. The problem with this straight toothbrush is that the head portion is not bendable, thereby providing less reach when an individual brushes his or her teeth. Another prior art toothbrush has a head portion that is bent at an angle to provide improved reach when brushing. However, this prior art toothbrush is made of a solid plastic material, where the plastic material is rigid which does not provide flexibility when brushing. The plastic material can crack after time, thereby causing injure to the gums of the individual.
It is highly desirable to have a very efficient and also very effective design and construction of a flexible toothbrush, where the neck portion is improved to provide flexibility for an individual to brush his or her teeth. It is also desirable to provide a flexible toothbrush that is made of a semi-rigid plastic material, where the neck portion can be bendable under pressure and will not crack when brushing.
The following thirteen (13) prior art patents are found to be pertinent to the field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 882,021 issued to Schigelinsky on Mar. 17, 1908 for "Bottle Cleaner" (hereafter the "Schigelinsky Patent"); PA1 2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,268 issued to Bressler on Mar. 23, 1948 for "Flexible Bristle Head Toothbrush" (hereafter the "'268 Bressler Patent"); PA1 3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,297 issued to Bressler on Jun. 15, 1948 for "Toothbrush" (hereafter the "'297 Bressler Patent"); PA1 4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,789 issued to Slater on Oct. 5, 1971 for "Disposable Toothbrush And Method Of Making The Same" (hereafter the "Slater Patent"); PA1 5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,621 issued to Phenegar on May 16, 1989 for "Toothbrush" (hereafter the "Phenegar Patent"); PA1 6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,071 issued to Halm on Oct. 1, 1991 for "Toothbrush With Displaceable Head" (hereafter the "'071 Halm Patent"); PA1 7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,154 issued to Schiffer et al. on Oct. 8, 1991 for "Toothbrush With Flexible Head" (hereafter the "Schiffer Patent"); PA1 8. Patent Cooperation Treaty No. WO 88/01,480 issued to Choi on Mar. 10, 1988 for "Massage Toothbrush" (hereafter the "Choi Patent"); PA1 9. Patent Cooperation Treaty No. WO 93/15,627 issued to Halm on Aug. 19, 1993 for "Flexibly Resilient Toothbrush Handle" (hereafter the"'627 Halm Patent"); PA1 10. Great Britain Patent No. 673,516 for "Improvements In And Relating To Toothbrushes" (hereafter the"'516 GB Patent"); PA1 11. Great Britain Patent No. 1,158,936 for "Improvements Relating To Hair-Brushes" (hereafter the "'936 GB Patent"); PA1 12. Switzerland Patent No. 155,730 (hereafter the "'730 Switzerland Patent" ); and PA1 13. Switzerland Patent No. 312,125 (hereafter the "'125 Switzerland Patent").
The Schigelinsky Patent discloses a bottle cleaner. It comprises a handle section and a cleaning section hingeable connected to the handle section.
The '268 Bressler Patent discloses a flexible bristle head toothbrush. It comprises a head portion which includes a plurality of bristle supporting sections which are spaced apart and joined together by connectors with a resilient yieldable member extending through the sections and connectors.
The '297 Bressler Patent discloses a toothbrush. It comprises a handle portion and a head portion. A spring member is integrally molded within the head portion.
The Slater Patent discloses a disposable toothbrush and method of making the same. The toothbrush is formed from a sheet of plastic material which is rolled into an elongated cylindrical body. A deformable pin is embedded in the plastic sheet material to hold the bristles at one axial end of the body at an angle to a handle portion when the body is bent at a location spaced from the bristles.
The Phenegar Patent discloses a toothbrush. It comprises a bristle head, a neck, and a handle connected to the head by the neck. A deformable insert is provided on the neck and extends through the neck and partially extending into the head and handle.
The '071 Halm Patent discloses a toothbrush with a displaceable head. It comprises a toothbrush body with a head portion formed at an angle relative to the neck and a resiliently flexible portion with five alternatively inverted, transverse, V-shaped folds, where the flexible portion provides flexibility when pressure is applied to the head portion of the toothbrush.
The Schiffer Patent discloses a toothbrush with a flexible head. It comprises a handle, a neck, a bristle head, and an elastic segment between the handle and bristle head. The elastic segment is formed by one or more clearances, slots or slits at least partially filled with elastic polymeric/copolymeric plastic material.
The Choi Patent discloses a massage toothbrush. It comprises bristles, a thin neck, a flat spring which is inserted into the neck, and a shoulder which is attached to a thick handle.
The '627 Halm Patent discloses a flexibly resilient toothbrush handle. It comprises a flexible resilient region which is between a head portion and a handle portion. The flexible resilient region is an integral corrugated region.
The '516 GB Patent discloses a toothbrush with a leaf spring for connecting a plurality of separate bristle-supporting sections of the head portion together. The leaf spring has holes and notches, all of which are in register with tufts of bristles. Also, the leaf spring is only located on the head portion of the toothbrush and used for holding together the plurality of separate sections on the head portion.
The '936 GB Patent discloses improvements relating to hair-brushes. It comprises a resilient member which connects the handle with the head.
The '730 Switzerland Patent, as disclosed from the figures shows a brush with a wavy neck portion and a thin flexible member formed within a head portion and extending through the neck and handle portions.
The '124 Switzerland Patent, as disclosed from the figure shows a toothbrush with an angle head portion.
It is further desirable to provide an improved toothbrush, where the neck and handle portions provide flexibility for an individual to brush his or her teeth.